Where does evil come from?

The notion of 'evil' is misguided. There's no THING, that floats around, causing people to engage in cruelty and horrific acts.

There are human beings. For various reasons, some become mangled, and have no truly human feelings or decency.

War is problably responsible for most such manglement. Victims of attrocities commit attrocities, spreading the damage. Not ALL such victims, of course, but enough of them, to perpetuate cruelty and lack of humanity.

Where does evil come from?

Who tried to make Jesus do something bad?—Matthew 4:8-10

Normally, people want to be peaceable, honest, and kind. Why, then, do we often see violence, injustice, and cruelty? Horrific news reports are common. Is there someone trying to make people act badly?—Read 1 John 5:19.

Did God make humans with an evil tendency? No, Jehovah God created humans in his image, with a tendency to imitate God’s love. (Genesis 1:27; Job 34:10) But God also dignified humans with free choice. When our first parents chose to act badly, they rejected God’s example and became imperfect. We inherited the tendency to sin from them.—Read Deuteronomy 32:4, 5.

Will we always have evil?

God wants us to resist our bad tendencies. (Proverbs 27:11) So he teaches us how to avoid doing wrong and how to find real happiness. At present, though, we cannot imitate God’s love perfectly.—Read Psalm 32:8.

Although evil abounds now, God is permitting it for a limited time to allow all to see its sad consequences. (2 Peter 3:7-9) Soon, however, the earth will be filled with happy people who obey God.—Read Psalm 37:9-11

This world is wicked because Satan the Devil and his demons are influencing people to do horrendous things. John 12:31 Jesus said: "Now there is a judging of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." John 14:30 "I will not speak with you much more, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has no hold on me." 1 John 5:19 "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." Over 2,000 years ago these words were penned 2Timothy 3:1-5 Why don't you read these Scriptures and see whether you believe them or not. If you would like to learn more you can do so if you go to the international website, jw.org and Bible Teachings > Bible Questions Answered. Then, if you are still curious about who God is and who Jesus is, you can request your FREE personal Bible study,even at a time and place convenient for you.

Humans

Evil actions?

Evil really began in the spirit realm. After the creation of the first human couple an angel rebelled against God. How do we know? From Genesis chapter 3 there appears a "serpent" that seems to speak and tells the human couple the opposite of what God has told them concerning eating from the tree and their punishment of death if they did. The serpent states at Geneses 3:5 "You positively will not die." This is a lie. So how to tie this in with a rebellious angel? Consider Jesus words at John 8:44 "You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a murderer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie."

Satan condemned Adam and Eve to death by telling them they would not die if they ate the fruit from the tree God had commanded them not to eat from. They did die thus the Devil was a murderer. Also he is called the father of the lie since he told the very first lie to our original human parents. That they would not die and even that they could be like God and not have to listen to what God stated was 'good and bad' but that humas could decide for themselves what was good and bad.

How can we be sure it was the Devil that was speaking through the serpent? Revelation 12:9 in referring to the defeat of Satan against God's angelic forces when he and his hoards are removed from heaven it states: "So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him." So the devil is called "the original serpent".

Thus evil entered the world and as a previous post has stated humans, in their imperfect state, have acted in some incredibly evil ways. But not for much longer. Jesus taught his followers for God's Kingdom to come and for God's will (not human will) to be done on the earth as it is in heaven. This will be after the war of Armageddon when God's kingdom is established as earth's only government and the earth is restored to the original paradise it was intended to be.

For more detailed information on this and a host of other subjects please see the Official web site of Jehovah's Witnesses which is entirely devoted to Bible education.

People who don't consider the repercussions of their actions fully and with empathy. Religion is no protection against such thinking since so many believer just apply the rules they have been taught with no thought of the larger consequences of their actions. They are just worried about following the rules and getting to heaven. A dangerous delusion.

Evil is an act that does not bring out good to the needy persons around us.

Ignorance.

Satan. He is the source (father) of all evil and lies. John 8:42-47